Materials Inside Trailers Likely Caused Braintree Clean Harbors Fire

BRAINTREE, MA — A fire at Clean Harbors in Braintree was contained to trailers on the property, and officials believe the materials inside those trailers could be the cause of the fire.

Officials from Clean Harbors said an investigation was still ongoing as of Friday, with clean-up operations scheduled to remove water used in the fire response from the property over the weekend.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is also happening, with preliminary findings pointing to materials inside several trailers which caught fire as a possible cause.

Officials said the fire was limited to these trailers and that, inside of them, Clean Harbors stored a mixture of paints, epoxy, oil filters, solvents and similar waste materials.

None of the buildings on the property were affected by the fire, officials said.

The Braintree Fire Department responded to 1 Hill Ave. around 10 p.m. on Thursday for reports of smoke and a possible fire in the loading dock area of Clean Harbors, according to a report from the Mayor's Office.

When officials, including the town's Hazmat officer, arrived on the scene, they found an active fire that required them to establish water supplies and set up several "master stream operations" surrounding the building.

During the fire, residents of the area were asked to close their windows and stay in their homes.

Many took to Facebook to express concern over how this information was relayed, saying that the town needed to take greater steps to share than information other than posting the message to social media.

Clean Harbors and the state Hazmat team and Coast Guard conducted air monitoring at the facility and the surrounding neighborhoods during the fire and again on Friday morning. They've confirmed that the air quality was within "normal parameters," officials said.

Read more: Air Quality Within 'Normal Parameters' After Clean Harbors Fire